Here is our Argentina fishing report taken place in February, 2017
After our fishing for Chinook salmon in Chile and rafting in Argentine Patagonia we went to the jungle part of Argentina to get the golden dorado and other trophies. During our interim stopover in Buenos-Aires we took advantage of the opportunity to taste the best meat and gorgeous wine of Argentina.

That’s really a great place for sybarites, and the only “disadvantage” of it is the inability to eat meat somewhere else, in Russia, the USA or in Europe. After just a few meat meals in Argentina or Chile it will always seem that the meat is less flavored, less juicy, and the taste of it is less rich comparing to the meat you’ve tried in Argentina.

A private plane was waiting for us at one of the airports of Buenos-Aires. The Cessna Caravan planes are known for their reliability, unpretentiousness in service, and resistance to turbulence. The vibration on board the plane is less comparing to any other aircraft of the same level.

In 1 hour 45 min of a comfortable flight we came to the land of lakes, rivers, and meadows where a large number of cows of the Black Angus breed graze freely.

Due to the warm climate and extensive water area the land is known as the territory of golden dorado. Despite the fact that it is the north of the country, most time of the season the climate here is tropical. The rivers covered with thick green thickets, warmed by the sun, abounding in food create excellent conditions for the existence of this warm-loving fish.

Despite the common name, this golden river inhabitant has nothing to do with the fish inhabiting the salt water of the ocean. These are two different fish species.

Golden dorado is called so because of the color of its scales displaying golden reflections. The largest specimen caught in the world weighed 31.4 kilos with the length of only 1 meter. The average weight of this extremely aggressive and sporty fish is about 3 kilos, and the fish weighing 8 kilos and more are considered to be real trophies.

After landing we headed towards a comfortable lodge located on one of the tributaries of the Parana River.

We’ll remember a stunning sunset which we could watch just from our rooms for a long time.

Such a color of the sky is a characteristic of Africa not of Argentina.

We went to our spacious rooms, and after having a shower,

we went to the dining room.

The meat of the local steers cooked on the open fire was very gentle and juicy.

After breakfast we headed towards new trophies. We went by two, on boats with powerful engines. We devoted the day to the exploring of the delta with the numerous channels separated by aquatic plants.

Our first trophies were medium dorados caught with the fly fishing and spinning techniques,

followed by piranhas of different species.

Small and medium dorados are caught along the cliffs in the fast flow, at the confluence of branches and streams or by the shrubs and snags sticking out of the water. It is also necessary to fish in the places where the depth changes after shallow water in the fast current. But if you are aimed at the largest specimen in the given water area, the best way of fishing is to use bottom live baits from the drifting boat. This way of fishing is quite dynamic and very efficient. The strikes are not so often, but practically all dorados caught in such a way can be classified as trophies.

There are also a lot of different species of catfish in the place where we were fishing the first day. The first real trophy was surubi weighing about 15 kilos, Sergey led it perfectly out from the river-side thickets and then from the engine of our boat where the catfish tried to go several times.

Less than 10 min passed after the catch, when another catfish struck, and that time it was much larger, but, unfortunately, we lost. The best way to recover was to have a meal in the open air. Especially since it was lunch time and the guides from another boat called us on the radio and asked us to join them. We caught another catfish of a different species before lunch.

We landed on the shore where a table full of appetizers was waiting for us in the shade of trees.

Piranhas and dorado baked on the vertical sticks stuck into the ground near the open fire is one of the dishes worth trying in the jungle part of Argentina. I tried to repeat this way of cooking in Brazil, but never managed to cook such a tasty dish.

While the guides were cooking piranhas and a catfish in batter, I roasted the pieces of fat bacon brought to Chile by the previous group of anglers from Ukraine. So, our lunch was quite varied, international and tasty.

Having relaxed for an hour after a hearty meal and having waited till the heat was over, we went on fishing. But this time, we were facing more serious challenges. A huge dorado struck, and everything was not bad at all, as the fish jerked to the middle of the river. Sergey managed to resist the first jerk, but huge fish are not only powerful and of great size, but are also cunning and experienced, that allows them to live till adulthood. The fish understood that we would fight it in the middle of the river, turned around 180 degrees and went under the snags where we finally lost it, as our 50 lb fishing line was broken.

Just after that, Ivan told us on the radio that he was trying to pull something unbearable out. I talked to his Spanish guide and understood that the rival was a huge fresh water ramp fish, the weight of which can reach 100 or even more kilos. He did not have to force the fighting and the only thing I could do under the circumstances was to tell him to draw the ramp fish against the flow constantly maneuvering the boat to make the current tear the fish off the bottom.

The tackle for the dorado and catfish fishing are characterized by high reliability, but still can’t be used while fishing for such mighty inhabitants of the jungle. For more than an hour Ivan was fighting against the fish at the limit of his capabilities and at the limit of his tackle, but the ramp fish won. The fishing line may have been rubbed over the rough fish skin or Ivan may have applied too much force, howbeit, we were deprived of the opportunity to take a photo with the monster.

The next days each fisherman decided what was more important for him. Most anglers were fishing not far from our lodge. There were a lot of small and medium dorados. They had about 100 catches per boat a day. Sergey and I chose the following tactics: in the morning we were fishing for medium dorados for about two hours and enjoyed a great number of beautiful strikes and jumps, and then we went for trophy specimens to the Parana River. And my theory “a large river – a large fish” turned out to be true and we were able to get quite good trophies.

We were also satisfied with the number of strikes, 30-40 catches per 2 fishermen a day is an excellent result for the golden dorado fishing. Unfortunately, we could realize none of the 3 outstanding strikes. I could understand the reason for the losses only on the last day of our fishing, the insufficiently fast action spinning was good at catching small and medium dorado, but could not cut the mouth of a huge one through.

The dorado takes the bait with a dead grip and to reach the soft tissues inside the fish head the hook is supposed to pass through its tight jaws. Only fast action spinning rods with superb strength are able to accomplish this task. Slow action spinning rods just give a potential trophy a signal to get rid of the suspicious bait. The dorado immediately gets rid of the bait and the fisherman has a zero catch. I managed to catch quite a rare trophy – chafalote, which is a close relative of a more famous tropical fish – payara, but it lives in the calm sections of the river with the usual for Argentina sandy color of water unlike its relative which prefers fast river streams.

The chafalote is practically the copy of the payara. Its silvery body has a flat back and a curved belly. The head is not too large, and a huge toothy mouth occupies practically all the head. There are teeth on the lower and upper jaws, but the two canine teeth in front of the lower jaw are the longest and most prominent.

They stick out even when the fish closes the jaws. The tail is very massive, which is an indicator of the fish strength. But the main difference is the size. The Argentinean “vampire” never exceeds the length of 80 cm. But even such a size is enough to resist violently.

For the three days of our fishing we got a lot of emotions and became the real fans of this sport and exciting fishing. Golden dorado is a trophy which will beckon you again and again, and this fishing can be compared only to the fishing for large salmon.

Join our next fishing tour in Argentina!